The original was a very nice little synth, I had one for a short time in the 70's It had a big rich sound, the oscillators were so aggressive, they could cut through anything, it was pretty basic, but incredible fun. I loved the pitch bend lever, that seemed as though it was attached to the end of a rubber band ! I beleive "Queen" used this machine a lot, but I could be wrong.
As for the limitations of mono-synth's, well, I hated them, I loved it when poly-synth's became available, it was all systems go for me. The synthesizer, when Bob Moog put a keyboard on it, to me, he was saying "this is a keyboard instrument" therefore to me it should also be polyphonic. I don't agree that musicians had to be more creative, playing one note lines is one thing, but that has nothing to do with polyphony, it's a personal choice, just like someone playing a single voice on the piano, it is wholly to do with the demands of the composer. I remember when I bought my first synthesizer, I put in on top of my piano, I knew what the limitations of the synth were and the piano provided much needed polyphonic support, but now, with poly-synth's, it's possible to make a complete finished piece with one instrument, which was impossible back then unless you used delays, sequencers and multi-track tape. But I suppose it's down to what sort of music you want to create, but for me, mono-synths were always a bit of a pain.
Oh yes, and I seem to remember that the square wave sound on the Davoli was truly amazing, just like a Moog, and that's a fact, anyone that's ever used one will tell you the same.

Patchmouse.Last edited by Patchmouse on Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:56 pm; edited 2 times in total

Thanks, that's the one. I didn't have that VST and you are right its great, especially after I turned off the delay, which was not on the real thing, and played it through my live set up. I got quite carried away for a bit there.

I understand where you are coming from about the mono /poly thing, and opinions so far seem to be split.

In the early 80's my main machine was my SH-101, which was fed through my guitar pedal board, fuzz, wah, flange, my external tape delay and the reverb in my HH amp, I found some fantastic sounds and am glad I kept that kit because they can still sound great today.

My Polys, borrowed from a friend who was abroad, were a crumar (?) electronic piano and a farfisa(?) organ they were pretty faceless even with effects, although I could do a great cover of Ashes to Ashes with the piano and the phaser set to overload. I used to spend hours fiddling, discovering new sounds some of which inspired new songs, others consigned to the bin, now days with my Midi controllers and laptops it seems a bit sterile by comparison. Perhaps I am getting old _________________Stephen
www.Rainsbury.Net

Polyphony ? it depends on the music, totally, if you are doing dense harmony's, then a mono-synth is going to be a pain, I wonder what Wendy Carlos would have done if the Moog had been polyphonic ? I'm sure her life would have been easier, but maybe she'd not have had such a sense of achievement ! and the music would have turned out differently maybe. I've been finding ways to ditch my keyboard lately, and it's been very interesting seeing what I can do with just a mouse, and an alternative controller, the results have been great as far as I'm concerned, especially if you use just the right sound for job, you have to have a sympathetic sound, to aid articulation. In my opinion interesting music is all about contrast, not using one instrument or device too often, or one technique. I started off in classical music, and hated anything modern, then swayed over to the avant-garde and became exactly the opposite, but as I got older I began to realize that absolutely everything has it's role, and is useful, and all things exist alongside each other for everyone's mutual benefit. That's why I tend to get really impatient with some people who are adamant about liking only one type of music, they are denying themselves experiences, and missing out in a way. Technology is the driving force behind a lot of modern music, and exploring it is fun, especially when it takes you somewhere new, and the results are worth having, it's not so good when the technology becomes an end in itself, I can't see the point of that, like being a painter who spends a fortune on canvas and brushes without finishing a single picture, and you rarely see artists sitting around talking about the relative merits of different pencils ! But for some reason you do get a lot of what I call "technophiles" in electronic music, who's world consists mainly of collecting instruments, and not doing much work at all, but I'm not judging those people, I'm a railway enthusiast, so I shouldn't talk, as I live in a glass house, and I mustn't throw stones !

Live I am mainly a bass player, and not a very good one at that, but since our keyboard player left, about 10 years ago, I have played some of the keyboard intros using a midi keyboard and laptop with VSTs.

On a couple of songs I sing and play 6 string guitar for Gong style glissando guitar which requires several effects, but my SH-101 can go through that too.

At home I have a semi-permanent setup with a 12ch desk and cheap midi modules, which sound pretty naff, but together and with effects can be interesting.

I seem to spend most of my time, however, fiddling with my two old DIY Mono/modular systems and the SH-101 (Its actually a dead MC-202 modified and rack mounted) and the effects, I have been really taken by some of the sounds I have found and pieces I have improvised but of course turn it back on next day and it sounds awful. My laptop and modules are normally relegated to a backing sequence at this point as I can't fiddle about with their signal chain.

Perhaps its not poly synths that limit my creativity, but preset patches?

I still can't get on with virtual modulars though, I get impatient trying to drag a patch cord with a mouse.

After I downloaded the Davoli VST mentioned above (Thanks again) I went back to the site and downloaded their ARP Oddysey tribute. That was another 2 hours just spent noodling, and no effects! _________________Stephen
www.Rainsbury.Net

Live I am mainly a bass player, and not a very good one at that, but since our keyboard player left, about 10 years ago, I have played some of the keyboard intros using a midi keyboard and laptop with VSTs.

On a couple of songs I sing and play 6 string guitar for Gong style glissando guitar which requires several effects, but my SH-101 can go through that too.

At home I have a semi-permanent setup with a 12ch desk and cheap midi modules, which sound pretty naff, but together and with effects can be interesting.

I seem to spend most of my time, however, fiddling with my two old DIY Mono/modular systems and the SH-101 (Its actually a dead MC-202 modified and rack mounted) and the effects, I have been really taken by some of the sounds I have found and pieces I have improvised but of course turn it back on next day and it sounds awful. My laptop and modules are normally relegated to a backing sequence at this point as I can't fiddle about with their signal chain.

Perhaps its not poly synths that limit my creativity, but preset patches?

I still can't get on with virtual modulars though, I get impatient trying to drag a patch cord with a mouse.

After I downloaded the Davoli VST mentioned above (Thanks again) I went back to the site and downloaded their ARP Oddysey tribute. That was another 2 hours just spent noodling, and no effects!

Hi Zodiak, I used to own an ARP Odyssey, I modified it and added a CV input to the filter, so I could apply a S&H control voltage, but it never worked properly after that ! I eventually fixed it, but getting a new sealed filter module was a real pain. This is the problem I find with vintage gear.
Maybe you should download the whole "Analogue Pack" included are recreations of the Oberheim 4 voice, ARP Odyssey, Moog Sonic Six, Micro Moog, and the Juno 106, these are well worth having.
I have a couple of virtual modular's and like them becasue they are polyphonic ! I am always incredibly disappointed whenever I hear anything done on a real modular these days, so much technology to produce so little results I always think. They are beautiful things to look at, but that's it, as far as I'm concerned. The interesting areas these days for me as far as sound design goes are solely with computers. If I hear another chugging bass line or "techno/Tangerine Dream-esque" sequence from a modular I'm going to scream ! I suppose there are people out there doing interesting things with these large modular's but I've scoured the internet and can't find any. But that doesn't stop me from wanting one, as I said, they are art works in there own right, and purely from a nostalgia point of view it would be nice to own one.

Hi PM, yes I did down load the whole package, and yes its a damn fine collection, I really like it and I can see them being used quite a bit I think that makes 8 VST Mellotrons I have now Still its prog, so never too many Mellotrons.
I agree about the use of modulars, some owners don't seem to be able to think past the conventional "minimoog" signal chain which seems a criminal waste.
Mine is a really small setup, but the most fun tends to come when you plug into sockets that you are not supposed to like LFO in an audio input, or filtered noise into a control voltage. Not terribly musical, unless its for a rhythm track.
I think my next project might be a dedicated hardware panel for one of the VST modules, possibly even the davoli, but more likely a Minimoog or oddy, or even make a replica mellotron with a laptop inside. At least it won't go out of tune._________________Stephen
www.Rainsbury.Net

I think my next project might be a dedicated hardware panel for one of the VST modules, possibly even the davoli, but more likely a Minimoog or oddy, or even make a replica mellotron with a laptop inside. At least it won't go out of tune.

I suppose that all of these instruments at the time were early computers, with dedicated control surfaces, we seem to be going back to that, in a round-about way, what's the difference between connecting a control surface to a DAW, and on the other hand, using a digitally controlled hardware mixer ? none really, it's just a separation of the individual elements involved, in different ways. TheYamaha DX7 was a digital computer, with a traditional interface, now that code is in a computer called FM8, controlled by an E-MU X-Board, no difference really.

TheYamaha DX7 was a digital computer, with a traditional interface, now that code is in a computer called FM8, controlled by an E-MU X-Board, no difference really.

I really liked the DX7 for what it could do, but I seem to remember stories that 80% of machines that went in for servicing had never been used for anything other than the presets. I used to think that was a shame until I tried programming one from its front panel. Life was much easier when computer front ends arrived, but even then most of the sounds I got sounded like deformed rusty bells _________________Stephen
www.Rainsbury.Net

TheYamaha DX7 was a digital computer, with a traditional interface, now that code is in a computer called FM8, controlled by an E-MU X-Board, no difference really.

I really liked the DX7 for what it could do, but I seem to remember stories that 80% of machines that went in for servicing had never been used for anything other than the presets. I used to think that was a shame until I tried programming one from its front panel. Life was much easier when computer front ends arrived, but even then most of the sounds I got sounded like deformed rusty bells

The DX7 is still special to me, I have about 70 sounds some of which still get used, but now I have them in FM7. I want to get another DX7, as I'm so scared of not being able to use my sounds one day. If anyone knows of a decent one going, please let me know. I had the special edition chip fitted to mine, which was a very worthwhile upgrade, as it enabled me to save function data "per-voice" rather than globally. I think I would be happy if the DX7 was my only keyboard, it's so beautiful to play.

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